


Contingency

by notaguitarfret



Series: "They're all girlfriends" AU [29]
Category: Heathers (1988), Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Catholic Guilt, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Religious Guilt, Sleep Paralysis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:06:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23854279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notaguitarfret/pseuds/notaguitarfret
Summary: Heather Chandler realises her trauma may go deeper than she thought.
Relationships: Heather Chandler/Heather Duke, Heather Chandler/Heather McNamara, Heather Chandler/Heather McNamara/Veronica Sawyer, Heather Chandler/Veronica Sawyer, Heather McNamara/Veronica Sawyer
Series: "They're all girlfriends" AU [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1053590
Comments: 11
Kudos: 163





	Contingency

Heather opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was what looked like her ceiling, only drowned out by darkness.

Her brain was dazed and slow. She could tell she had just woken up from a dream, however, she couldn’t for the life of her remember what had happened in said dream, or when the exact moment she had woken up had been. All she knew was that she was awake - nothing felt distorted and abstract like they so often did as she slept.

Only, something was wrong. Her eyes flickered around more of her room. Everything was dark, too dark to make out, though she could envision the shapes of her furniture, or at least, what she could see from where she lay. Perhaps she would be able to see more, if only she could fucking  _ move _ .

Her limbs were limp. Her body was frozen. Her head was stiff. Even her fingers refused to twitch. Her whole body was dead. The only thing she could shift were her eyes. She moved them frantically, as if she were trying to push her whole body onto her side with the strength of her pupils, but of course, nothing. She was trapped in herself.

She lay there for a few moments, internally panicking and desperately wanting to rip free of her prison, when she noticed an alien weight pressing down on her chest. It was uncomfortable. Suffocating. She thought her ribs would break.

As her chest grew heavier, her heart began to beat harder. Fear struck her, feeling a new eerie presence in her room. In her head, she screamed at herself to not look, to squeeze her eyes shut and pray that this would pass, and yet she didn’t. Instead, she let her eyes drop to the foot of her bed, where she saw a shadowy figure slithering by her feet. Its movements were unnatural, its silhouette wavering like it were underwater. It was looking at her, she knew, and yet it was faceless.

If she could open her mouth to scream, she would. But she couldn’t, her jaw was locked, and no voice came to her rescue.

The figure continued to move, its disproportionate body crawling around the foot of her bed like an insect. Her skin itched, fear making her tingle. So when the thing began to move further up, closer to her, hovering over her body like a dark cloud, she was expecting her surroundings to collapse and for the demon to drag her down to hell, where she belongs. Why else would this thing be here? It was there to torment her, right?

_ Fucking hell, please, God, just save me from this, _ she cried in her head. She wanted to close her eyes when she saw the demonic figure looming over her, not needing any eyes to tear into her gaze. She wanted to cry, to scream, to pray out loud, because heaven certainly wasn’t responding to the prayers in her head.

_ Please, _ she whimpered,  _ please leave me alone. _

Finally she forced her eyes shut, met with nothing but blackness, no figure, no nothing. She remained like that for minutes, many, many minutes, refusing to move even when she felt her body regain consciousness. She didn’t want to. She dared not let that demon see her move, or the charade that she was dead would be ruined.

She had no idea how long she stayed like that, completely still, eyes squeezed shut. She only gained the courage to move her arm when she felt her anxiety wear off, and immediately she began to search for her lamp switch. It took some blind batting around, but eventually her hand hit the lamp shade, and brightness landed on her eyelids. She cautiously blinked open one eye, fully expecting to see the demon still staring down at her, but was met with nothing.

She opened both eyes. All she saw was her ceiling.

She shakily sat up, her arms weak. She looked around her room again and again and again. Nothing was there. Just her.

Only now did she notice she could breathe without a weight holding her down.

That’s when she began to cry.

“ _ Stupid, stupid, stupid, _ ” she hissed to herself, keeping her voice a whisper. Though her parents were far from her room, she didn’t want to chance them hearing her sobbing at… 4:30 in the morning.

“It wasn’t a demon,” she told herself, holding her knees against her chest and digging her nails into her skin. “It wasn’t a demon, it wasn’t a demon.”

Tears rolled down her cheeks, completely soaking her knees as she buried her face into them.

“God didn’t hear you. God can’t hear you. He isn’t real,  _ none _ of it is real,” she whispered. “It was just a dream, just sleep paralysis, just…” She swallowed thickly. Her throat was so dry. “It didn’t mean anything.”

She sat in her bed, unmoving for a while, blankly staring forward. She only realised how long she remained in that state when she finally looked back at her lock.

_ 4:50. _

Grazing her teeth over her tongue, she glanced at her phone. She considered calling someone, Veronica, perhaps. She was always nice to talk to at night. But no, she really shouldn’t - even Veronica would be asleep by now, and in just a couple of hours she would need to get out of bed. No… she shouldn’t bother her, especially not with something so stupid.

There was a bit of water left from last night, which she eagerly swallowed, soaking her dry mouth. She wiped away the last of her tears. Though she had stopped crying, her breaths were still shaken. She considered lying back down and trying to catch the last couple of hours for sleep, but the thought made her sick in the stomach. She didn’t want to risk facing that, not again.

Instead, she grabbed the book on her nightstand, and began to read. The words we particularly mixed up when she opened the pages, and it took her maybe ten minutes to get to the bottom of one page. Her brain couldn’t process anything, even if she understood a word, she simply couldn’t absorb what it actually said. She would continue to forget the past few sentences that she had just read, and having to go back over them all over again. It was incredibly frustrating, and she was terribly exhausted, but she refused to close her eyes, no matter how much she wanted to. She couldn’t handle what her brain had in store for her, not again.

She continued to read until the sun began to seep through her curtains. Staying awake got no easier, but it was 6:45, and there was no point trying to sleep now.

* * *

“Are you alright?”

Veronica’s hand landing on her arm made Heather jolt her head up. She blinked a few times, trying desperately to stay awake.

“Mmm? Yes, yeah. I’m fine.” She forced a smile. “Monday mornings seem to be getting to me lately.”   


Veronica looked at her doubtfully. Fuck you, Veronica, stop being so concerned.

“You look troubled.” She cupped her face, holding up her head. It was nice. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Hey, public,” she grunted tiredly as she batted her hands away. “I’m fine, promise.” She slouched against the lockers, resting her head against the cold surface. “Now, you were telling me about your date. How’d it go? What’d you do?”

Veronica still appeared uncertain, but she questioned her no further.

“It went great,” she said. “We uh… we went to the woods again, so not all that conventional, but it was fun!”

Heather lazily hummed her approval. “Glad to hear it.”

Veronica frowned. “Heather, my love, no offense, but you look half dead.” Veronica stepped closer, leaning against the lockers herself and edging forward until their faces were inches apart. “Are you sure nothing’s bothering you?”

Heather slowly blinked at her. Usually she’d have the energy to argue with her, to give a sharp, dismissive retort, but she couldn’t even do that.

“It’s nothing,” she mumbled. “Rough night’s sleep, is all.”

“Oh.” Veronica gave her a sympathetic look, one that Heather paid little heed to. Her eyes drifted away from her, staring off into the distance. Her attention span was lingering around Veronica less and less, so when she began to talk again, her words almost sounded muffled. She considered trying to zone into their conversation again after some time, but before she could, she spotted someone who she  _ especially  _ didn’t want to see turn the corner and make her way down the hallway towards where they stood. She cut off Veronica by grabbing her arm and pulling her away, speed-walking towards nowhere in particular.

“Heather?” Veronica asked. “What are you-”   


“Just keep walking,” she muttered. “Fleming is behind us, I don’t want her to start up another conversation with me.”

“She’s still bothering you?”

“Not recently, because I’ve avoided her like the plague that she is on student’s personal lives.” Just in time, she grabbed Veronica’s chin just as she was about to glance over her shoulder. “Don’t look at her! If she knows we know she’s there she’ll holler my fucking name down the corridor, and I am  _ not _ letting anyone see me interact with that walking joint. I’d never hear the end of it if they thought something was wrong with me.”   


“I guess,” Veronica murmured. “But… where are we going?”

Heather shrugged. “Fuck it, let’s just go to English early. I doubt she’d want to risk snapping her fragile little ankles by climbing all those stairs.”

With that, she dragged Veronica up to their English room, a whole twenty minutes earlier than usual. She felt bad for ditching any plans to see Mac or Duke before classes started, but she simply couldn’t handle risking facing Fleming, not today. Any other day she could handle it, even if she did avoid it at all costs, but she just  _ couldn’t _ today.

The two of them were out of breath once they reached the top of the staircase, and as they made it to the door to their classroom, Heather let her exhaustion take over and slid down the rough wall until she was sitting on the floor. Usually she wouldn’t let herself be vulnerable to appearing so pathetic, but nobody would be around for quite a while - no one would know.

“You okay?” Veronica looked down at her, concerned. Heather shrugged.

“I’m starting to wish I skipped today.”

Veronica sat down on the floor next to her. “The less skipped days, the more likely you are to graduate,” she said. “Which means all of this is no more.” She gestured to the empty space around them.

“I guess,” she sighed, letting herself flop lifelessly onto Veronica’s shoulder. She desperately wanted to just be held by her right now, but if someone were to suddenly appear in this corridor with them, her current position is a lot less likely to raise questions. Whatever, she’d settle for Veronica resting her head on top of her own. Oh, and the hand that was gently stroking over her knuckles. That was nice too.

“So, what’s Fleming been saying to you?” Veronica spoke up. Heather huffed indignantly.

“Just the usual bullshit she spouts,” she replied. “The other day she dragged me into her office for a mini counselling session and tried to pick me apart as if I were some sort of puzzle.” She gave a faint breath of laughter. “Like, I get it, I’m very interesting and you want me to write a whole damn autobiography, I’m sure you’d read it twenty times a month and never get tired of it.” The faintest of smiles appeared on her lips when she heard Veronica chuckle. Then it disappeared again. “But I don’t  _ want _ to tell her shit. Like I trust her to do anything helpful. But she won’t get it through her thick fucking skull that I don’t want to talk to her. Or maybe it  _ did _ get through her skull, but it never reached her brain, because instead of a brain, inside her head is just  _ air _ .”

“That would make a lot of sense,” Veronica laughed, running a hand through Heather’s locks and causing a soothing sensation to ripple down her spine. “And listen, Heather. You’re an enigma. It’s taken me months to really get to know you, and it’s taken Heather and Heather even longer to learn certain things about you. I highly doubt Fleming’s going to break my record of - what - four months to get to know you on a personal level?” She playfully elbowed her, and Heather snickered.

“I keep everything under a thick veil,” she said, picking her head off her shoulder. “I only lift it up for the most special people.” She ran her finger down Veronica’s jawline and flicked her chin up smoothly. Veronica shot her a flirtatious look.

“You’re such a poet,” she murmured, leaning in close. Heather took a moment to glance around the hallway - still empty. She wasn’t usually one to be intimate in such an obvious, open space, but fuck it, she’d blame it on her exhaustion. She closed the gap between them, sensually, yet firmly pressing her lips against Veronica’s. Did she care that red and purple lipstick mixing would be obvious? No, not in that moment, because even now, after being terribly shaken by her experience last night, feeling Veronica kissing her senseless was one of the best feelings she could experience.

Unfortunately, that sensation had to end, with the sounds of footsteps making their way up the stairs making them jump apart. Veronica was the first to stand up, offering a hand to Heather, which she accepted. Somehow standing back up was a lot harder than she’d expected. Veronica had to grab onto her arm to keep her on her feet.

“You know, I wouldn’t blame you if you decided to just go home,” Veronica said. “You seem really out of it today.”

Heather rolled her eyes. “I’ll go get some coffee later to wake myself up, nothing worth getting your panties in a twist for.”

“I’m wearing boxers.”

“You get the idea.”

Their conversation ended as soon as other students from their class started to appear. Unexpectedly, the first ones to appear were the nerds and the lone wolves, visibly discomforted by finding themselves alone in a hallway with two of the most popular figures in the school; clearly being caught in such close proximity without the protection of a crowd felt like being a rabbit in an open field full of predators to them.

Then, maybe five or so minutes later, the rest of the students came swarming towards them. A relief to the quiet ones, a source of irritation for her. They seemed particularly rowdy today, too. Odd for a Monday morning, and definitely not a tone she had prepared herself for.

“Jesus, what’s with all the noise?” Veronica muttered, just loud enough for one of the boys to hear.

“Mrs Wilson isn’t in today!” he said excitedly. “It’s a sit-off lesson, the sub’s grabbing a film for us to watch.”

Heather groaned inwardly. “So I showed up to this lesson for no reason?”

Veronica smiled reassuringly. “Hey, a sit-off is always good. Besides, you wouldn’t want to leave me all alone with an untamed class, would you?”

“Depends how nice I’m feeling.”

“Very.”

“How presumptuous.”

Interrupting them both was the class suddenly parting, creating a vague enough path for the substitute that had only just arrived. Though they were kind enough to let her through, her presence did nothing to lower the noise levels.

The class flooded into the room, far less orderly than usual, with the occasional excited whoop in seeing the TV set at the front of the classroom. Funny, how as soon as you’re thrown into a classroom, a TV is the most exciting thing you can see.

The sub let the class rearrange the seats however they like - and by that, it was more of ‘they already started to, and she’s powerless to do anything about it.’ Desks were shoved out the way so that students could move their seats next to their friendship groups, while also trying to find the best seats for whatever movie they were going to watch. Heather was not so eager, nor interested, in getting a good view, and instead settled at the back of the classroom, where Veronica had already pulled up two seats for them, separate from everyone else.

As she stumbled around the students scrambling to find seats, a weight knocked into her. She yelped with surprise and fell into a table, only just catching herself with her hands on the edge. The weight didn’t leave, though, and she looked up to see one of the reckless boys had been shoved right into her, likely by rough housing for some dumb fucking reason. She would have pushed him off, had it not been for the force holding down her wrists.

_ You’re holding my wrists. _ She froze in place, staring back at him blankly. Deep down she knew he wasn’t doing this intentionally, his hands had just landed on hers. But her stupid brain just wouldn’t process that, she couldn’t interpret it as such.

“Wow, okay, dude! No need to get all intimate with Heather Chandler!” someone jeered, causing an uproar of laughter.

_ You can’t just do that, _ she thought, trembling.  _ You can’t do this and think I’m going to like it! _

“Hey, back off, ya creeps!” Hearing Veronica’s harsh tone coming up from behind her relaxed her a little, reminding her that the person holding down her hands was a scrawny, awkward little nerd who she’d usually knee in the balls for daring to get so close to her.

His eyes widened, and on command he stumbled backwards.

“I didn’t mean to!” he said. “I just fell-”

“Aw, come on, don’t be modest!” someone called. Next to her, Veronica shot the group a deathly glare.

“Keep your paws to yourself,” she growled.

“Heather looks like she’s about to commit homicide,” someone else commented, reminding Heather to relax the tensed muscles in her face. She hadn’t even known she was scowling, but at least that was better than looking terrified of this little twig, who gulped as he dared to lock eyes with her one last time before scurrying off and sitting down far away from her. She stood and glowered at him for a while longer, before a tap on her arm caught her attention. Veronica tilted her head to their seats, which she hesitantly followed her to.

“Are you okay?” she whispered to her once they were seated.

“I’m fine,” she mumbled, rubbing her wrists with her palms. “It just caught me off guard.” She tore her mind away from it. “What movie are we watching?”

“ _ Carrie _ , I think,” she said. “Ever watched it?”

Heather shook her head.

“Read the book? I know you read.”

“Not a fan of Stephen King,” she said. “The way he wrote Beverly in  _ IT _ put me off.”

“I haven’t actually read  _ IT _ yet. What’s so bad about it?”

“A lot, but the worst part is when he makes all the eleven year olds have an orgy.”

“ _ What? _ ”

“Oh, you didn’t know? Lucky you, I read it when I was fifteen.”

“...Ew?”

Their conversation was cut short by the substitute finally gaining control over the class, and she, not wanting to have to stand in front of them for any longer than needed, slid the VHS tape into the TV and the movie began to play soon after. Still feeling somewhat on edge, Heather shuffled a little closer to Veronica as soon as the lights were turned off.

“So, what’s this movie about?”

“You don’t want to find out for yourself?”   


“I’m impatient.”   


“It’s about a girl who doesn’t know what menstruation is, and she gets made fun of for it. Oh, and she has telekinesis”

“How does she not know what it is…?”

“She has a religious freak of a mother who didn’t tell her.”

Discomfort churned in her stomach, but she pushed it down. Usually such a thing would hardly make her bat an eye.

“Oh,” she grunted, turning her attention to the TV and ignoring the nails she was digging into her own wrists.

_ It’s fine, _ she told herself.  _ The film will take my mind off of it, _

Perhaps she was wise to not fully believe that, though, because even when she thought she was getting into the film, her mind continued to drift, and her reality became hazy. She continued to pull herself back in over and over again, trying her utmost best to stay present, but every time her efforts proved to be pointless.

Even when she did manage to focus on the movie, though, it would never be a good thing. With horror movies - especially one like this which was just  _ teen drama _ \- she would usually be fine, unphased. Now, though, she felt on edge, and she just couldn’t understand why.

For a while she zoned out again, her mind wandering to no place good, before she reminded herself to bring herself back again.

Quite possibly the worst time to do so, apparently. Carrie had just come home after being made fun of for starting her period, and was called down the stairs by her mother.

_ “You’re a woman now.” _

Heather felt ill.

She continued to listen as Carrie’s mother continued to speak, pushing her onto the floor and reciting false Bible verses

_ “The raven was called sin. Say it.” _

Something about Carrie desperately refusing to say it while having a book shoved in her face added to the sickly feeling she had in her stomach. It was made worse when.

_ “The first sin was intercourse.” _

Her mother said it again and again and  _ again _ , and every time it felt like the world around her was blurring.

Her thoughts were hazy, she could hardly think straight, but one thing she did know is that she felt as though her surroundings were fading, like she were watching herself from a distance, unable to process anything in a clear and comfortable way.

One thought was coherent, though, and that was the urge to get the hell out of there. Not in the way she already was, she just wanted to act  _ fine _ again, not feel as though she wasn’t in control of herself at all; her hand that scratched her wrist, her leg that was bouncing frantically, she couldn’t say any of that came from her.

_ Fuck this, _ she turned towards the door. There were many obstacles in her way, many eyes that would stare at her if she stood up now, but like it mattered, they could burn right into her and she still wouldn’t feel it. Not right now.

She just couldn’t sit there for any longer.

* * *

“Heather?”

Veronica looked at Heather in confusion as she suddenly stood up. Her eyes were clouded and there was no readable expression Veronica could pick up on, that is, before she turned away and began to march towards the door. Their classmates all saw, all looking at her with curiosity, while Veronica could only stare after her with worry. The substitute called her name, trying to ask where she was going, but by then, she had already left, the door slamming shut behind her.

Veronica felt a pit grow at the bottom of her stomach. Something was definitely wrong with her. The whole movie, she hadn’t been responsive, sitting almost completely still with the exception of her leg bouncing now and then and nails scraping against her skin. She had hardly paid any attention to the film, instead wishing she could ask her if she was alright, but she knew Heather wouldn’t have forgiven her if anyone had heard her ask her such a question.

She debated just sitting there, waiting to see if she would come back, but that argument was soon dropped. Forgetting all consequences, Veronica grabbed a pen and two slips of paper from her bag, stood up and hurried after her, ignoring the puzzled mutters she heard as she walked in front of the whole class.

“Now where’s she going?” she heard the teacher say just before she made her exit. Once she was out, she ran towards the stairs and scurried down them as quickly as she could, until she was able to catch up enough to hear Heather’s heels clacking against the hard floor as she walked. She looked down the staircase, and caught a glimpse of her ginger locks just a couple of flights down.

“Heather!” she called after her, but she got no response. Sighing, she continued to follow her, occasionally leaping down several steps at once. “Heather, wait for me.”

“Veronica?” A different Heather’s voice spoke up. She turned away from the banister and looked towards the row of science rooms before her, and saw Heather McNamara, holding a science apron, giving her a concerned look.

“Oh… hi, Mara.”

“What are you doing out of class?” she asked.

“Uh… what are  _ you _ doing out of class?” She tried to change the topic.

“...Getting an apron for a biology experiment? Safety first.” She walked over to her. “What about  _ you? _ ”

Veronica bit her lip worriedly. “I… something’s wrong with Heather.”

“What? What is?”   


“That’s what I’m trying to find out.” She looked down the stairs again. “Look, I’ll talk later. Find me afterwards, maybe?”

Mara frowned. “Can’t you forge me a hallway pass so I can come with you?”

“I only have two for Heather and I,” she said apologetically. Mara rolled her eyes.

“Fine, I’ll get a real one. You go find her, I’ll catch up.”

“Are you sure?”

“We’re learning about enzymes. Of course I’m sure.”

With that, Veronica nodded, and the two of them split up. Veronica ran down the rest of the stairs, looked around the corridor ahead for any sign of Heather, and saw her just before she turned the corner all the way down the hallway. Veronica darted after her, skidding around the corner and finally catching up to her.

“Heather!” she called again, and finally she stopped. Veronica paused just behind her, panting. “Heather,” she said again once she caught her breath. “What’s wrong?”

Heather stared at her for a moment, her blank expression unchanging.

That is, until it began to crack. It was as if looking at her had been like a rock shattering glass, since the longer she stared, the more Veronica could see the tears welling up in her eyes and the teeth clamped down on her lower lip to keep her twitching mouth shut.

“Heather…” Her voice softened and she stood close to her, brushing a hand over hers soothingly. “It’s okay-”

“ _ It’s not, _ ” Heather hissed through gritted teeth. Her voice was but a harsh whisper. “I’m  _ not _ going to break down in the middle of a school hallway.” She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep her tears in.

“Then we’ll go somewhere private,” she said, linking their arms together. “Come on.”

Veronica led her to the school bathroom. Not their usual meetup place - that was far too risky, people went in there all the time. Instead, she opted for the more shittier bathrooms that were cleaned less frequently, less used and mainly populated by stoners looking for a place to smoke when it was raining outside.

Speaking of which.

So, Veronica didn’t have a plan for the possibility of people already being in the bathroom. Usually if that were the case, the Heathers would chase them off. But looking at how vulnerable Heather looked, and how she turned her face away from them so they wouldn’t catch sight of any signs of damage.

Clearly their presence wasn’t enough to sway these kids, either, since they remained standing at the other end of the bathroom, joints in their mouths. Veronica took a deep breath.

_ Guess I’m doing this. _

“Hey, could you take your high selves elsewhere?” she asked in a low, threatening voice. “This bathroom is occupied.”

One of them gave her a look. “We were here first.”

Veronica snarled, marching over to her and gripping her by the collar. Her relaxed demeanour vanished, replaced with a look of terror.

“I suggest you gather your little group and motor yourselves out of here,” she sneered. “Maybe try smoking in the showers. It might wipe some of the six month old stench off of you.”

She released her, and immediately the three of them scrambled, avoiding Heather’s gaze on the way out. Not that Heather was looking at them anyway.

As soon as the door closed, Veronica let out a cough.

“Well, that ruined the effect,” she commented, climbing onto the counter to force open the moss-covered window. It was stiff and hard to budge, but she’d do anything to give the thick weed smoke an outlet. It wasn’t even that she minded weed - she’d gladly smoke a joint if given one - but Return Of Her Asthma (second movie of the trilogy) made it difficult to bear.

“That felt weird, and I don’t think I liked it,” she said, sitting down on the counter next to Heather. “How do you do that everyday without feeling like an entitled prick?”

“I  _ do _ feel like an entitled prick,” Heather mumbled, her lip still quivering. “That’s kind of the whole point.”

Veronica tried to smile at her attempt at humour, even when she was on the verge of falling apart.

“Hey, we’re all alone, you know,” she said in a quieter voice. “You’re allowed to cry.”

“I’m not going to be that bitch who has a breakdown in a school bathroom,” she muttered, wiping her eyes. Her eyeliner became smudged, but that wasn’t an issue right now.

“So, you won’t cry in a hallway or a bathroom?”   


“I’m not going to cry in school!” she snapped, clenching her fists. “Just… just let me pull myself together.”

Veronica sighed, unconvinced that she’d be able to do that any time soon. She was still sniffling, still tightly pursing her lips, still tearful. She wrapped an arm around her and  pulled her close. As soon as her head landed on her chest, she began to bawl. It was heart wrenching to hear, but Veronica remained calm, stroking her hair and holding her hand tightly.

“What’s going on, Heather?” she asked. “You’ve been distant all day, and walking out of class is really unlike you.”

Heather clutched onto her tighter.

“It’s stupid! It shouldn’t be getting me upset, it…”   


“If it’s getting you upset, it’s not stupid.” She lifted her chin up and met her glassy eyes. “Please, Heather. I want to be there for you. Whatever it is, I won’t judge you for it. Unless you finally murdered Betty as revenge for the tattoo, in which case, I don’t know if I can really be a mediator for that.”

“I’m still out for her blood, but not literally,” she spluttered. “But no, I didn’t do a number on anyone.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“I…” She took a moment to breath. “It’s nothing, really. I just… I got sleep paralysis last night.”

Veronica offered a look of sympathy. “Oh… Heather, sleep paralysis is nasty.”

“You’ve had it?”

“A few times, yeah.” She tucked some stray ginger strands behind Heather’s ears. “I can see why it would get you upset.”

Heather frowned. “It’s never gotten me this upset,” she muttered. “I don’t know why it’s gotten to me so much.”

“Maybe it was particularly scary this time?” Veronica suggested. “Do you mind me asking what you saw?”

“Um…” Heather shuffled closer to her. “Not the worst thing I’ve ever seen. It was just a… faceless shadow? Crawling on top of me.” She shrugged it off. “Nothing terrifying.”

“Heather, that  _ does _ sound terrifying!” she exclaimed. “Usually when I get sleep paralysis I just see shadows from the corner of my eye.”

“Whatever, I’ve seen worse.” She then fell silent. Veronica frowned, about to speak again, when they heard the sound of the bathroom door. They flinched apart, and Heather in particular looked startled, that is until they saw that the person who entered was none other than Mara.

“Oh, you found us,” Veronica said.

“Yeah, this wasn’t the last place I was going to look.” She walked over to them. “Heather, are you okay?”

Heather blinked at her. “How did you know I was upset?”

“I saw Veronica chase after you, I wanted to know what was wrong.” She hopped onto the counter and placed a hand on Heather’s thigh. “Are you okay?”

Heather sniffed. “Fine. I just…”

“She got sleep paralysis,” Veronica explained.

“Oh… that doesn’t sound good.”

“That’s not the point!” Heather suddenly exclaimed. “I don’t  _ care _ that I got sleep paralysis. What I  _ care _ about is that whenever I get it, I all of a sudden feel like I’m about to be dragged to hell!” She groaned into her hands. “It’s so stupid. I don’t believe in all that shit anymore, so why the hell do I start praying and begging for forgiveness? Why do I feel as though whatever image my brain decided to conjure up for fun is an actual demon there to eat my soul or… whatever demons do?”

Veronica was a little lost for words. She hadn’t expected this conversation to take such a turn.

“You grew up thinking like that, Heather,” Mara said, linking her arm with hers. “It’s not unheard of to not shake it all off!”

“But I don’t feel like that  _ now! _ ” Heather barked. “Hell, if a demon did actually show up in front of me right now, I…” Her voice trailed up. “Or… or maybe I wouldn’t laugh. I… I don’t know what I’d do.”

“Heather, slow down for a moment,” Veronica told her, stroking her back. “Let’s try and figure this out, hm?”

Heather’s hands dropped onto her lap, and she slowly nodded.

“So, if you don’t mind me asking, why do you think there’s a demon around when you get sleep paralysis?”

Heather let out a long sigh. “Well, years ago - I was like eleven or twelve - I was in church with my parents. I don’t remember what the sermon was about, but it was probably about sin and hell, because I went up to my parents and asked something like, ‘are demons actually real? Have people ever seen them?’ They said yes, because of course they did, and told me about  _ all _ the ways they can show up to someone, whether it be explicit or not.” She sneered bitterly. “They mentioned sleep paralysis, and I asked them what that was, and their description fucking terrified me. Unfortunately, it was also pretty accurate.” Her leg began to bounce again. “Ever since then, I was terrified of getting sleep paralysis. Every night, even when I was unsure God was real, even when I lost my virginity at fucking fifteen, even the night I first got drunk, I would pray, in hopes that it would stop me from getting it.” She snorted. “And it worked.”

“For how long?”

“...Until I stopped going to church entirely,” she muttered, her voice thick with guilt. “Then suddenly, it began to happen. Frequently.”

Veronica would be lying if that odd coincidence didn’t unnerve her, and it seems it had a similar effect on Mara, with the disturbed glance they exchanged.

“Okay, so… coincidences happen,” Veronica slowly said. “But Heather, I highly doubt you’re being punished for not believing in God anymore, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Heather tucked her knees under her chin and gave a doubtful huff. “I’ve questioned God’s existence for  _ years _ . It was only after I bothered to show up to his little sunday gathering every week that this began to happen.” She buried her head in her arms. “I know how stupid it sounds, but hey, when it feels as though a demon is about to break your ribcage, and you can’t do shit about it, is it that much of a surprise that the thought that God may be mad at me for giving up on him is at the back of my mind?”

While Veronica took a moment to try and think of what to say, she noticed how it looked as though cogs in Mara’s head were turning at a rapid pace, as a look of realisation appeared.

“Heather,” she said urgently. Chandler lifted her head slightly to glimpse at her. “When did you stop going to church?”

“Just over a year ago.”

Though Mara looked as if she had cracked some sort of code, it was definitely a sad one, with how solemn she looked. Taking Chandler’s hands in her own, she said,

“Heather, this isn’t anything supernatural. I think it’s your PTSD.”

Both Heather and Veronica froze.

“Did I miss something?” Veronica questioned. “Since when did you figure that out?”

“Since for a little while,” Heather said. “And, ‘figure it out’? Are you implying you already knew?”

Veronica shrugged. “Of course I didn’t know anything. But uh… well, when you have a flashback in front of me, I am gonna assume such things. But hey, it’s not my job to diagnose things for you.”

Heather groaned, then looked back at Mara. “Whatever. That doesn’t make any sense, Mac. Me feeling like I’m being punished by a divine entity doesn’t relate to… you know.”   


“I know, but hear me out.” Her hands squeezed around Chandler’s. “Heather… the other night, you mentioned to me how your parents took you to their church and told you… less than good things, right?”

“...Yes.”

“And your PTSD gives you nightmares, right?”

“Unfortunately.”

“So it would make sense that you’d start to experience sleep paralysis  _ after _ you develop PTSD, which you would have just over a year ago.”

Heather paused, her eyes flickering back and forth like she was connecting the dots. Veronica was doing the same.

“I think she’s onto something.” She placed a hand on her shoulder. “Heather, with everything you told me about what happened that night, your parents said a lot of awful things to you-”

“-And are overall awful parents,” Mara added.

“That too.” She nodded. “Heather, have you considered that maybe your trauma isn’t just… rape?”

Heather stared at her blankly. “What do you mean? That’s where my PTSD comes from. We  _ know _ this, all of this started happening after it occurred.”   


“I know, and I’m sure it’s definitely the biggest trigger, but…”

“But maybe how your parents treated you, including how they drilled religion into you, kinda…  _ added _ to it?” Mara said. “I only say this because whenever you mention your trauma, they’re always mentioned along with it.”

“Same with me,” Veronica agreed. Heather simply stared forwards, looking a little stunned.

“But… but how does me feeling guilty about ditching religion tie into it?”

“Because I doubt your parents are okay with it, Cherry,” Mara said sadly. “They already drilled it into you that your trauma was  _ supposed _ to happen to you for whatever reason, and they’ve been feeding you that sort of crap for years, even if it’s just small little things like saying God’s name in vain. I still remember when you were okay with swearing, but saying ‘oh my God’ was too far for you!”

Veronica couldn’t hold back a snicker. “Sorry,” she said. “But that is kinda funny.”

“It was really cute, she used to always say ‘oh my gosh’,” Mara giggled, Chandler rolled her eyes. “But like I was saying, your parents have made you feel guilty for… a lot of things, Heather, and this is one of them.” She pressed up against her. “From where I stand, it looks like your religious guilt is being amplified by your PTSD. You’re not being punished for being a non-believer, it’s not karma, it’s just like Veronica said - a coincidence. Of  _ course _ you left your church after what happened, and of  _ course _ you also got some shitty PTSD symptoms after what happened too.”

“Is sleep paralysis a symptom?”

“If nightmares are, I don’t see why sleep paralysis couldn’t be,” Mara said with a shrug. “It sounds possible.”

Heather slowly nodded, as if accepting everything being told to her. Then, her lip began to quiver, and on cue, Veronica and Mara lunged forward to embrace her in a consoling hug. Chandler buried her face into the arms interlocked around her, tears and mascara likely staining blue and yellow fabric. Neither Veronica or Mara minded, though, they simply wanted her to be okay. It sounded as though Heather was choking back her sobs, likely not wanting to cry all over again, so Veronica leaned forward and whispered,

“It’s okay to be sad about it.”

Hearing her, Heather’s sobs became louder, and she ended up nuzzling into the crook of Mara’s neck, while clutching onto Veronica’s arm and hand.

“Why’d my parents have to fuck me up so bad, huh?” she heard a muffled cry. “This is getting ridiculous.”

“Your parents suck,” Veronica said. “It’s a good thing I haven’t met them.”

Gradually, Heather’s sobs began to fade, becoming the occasional hiccup, then a sniffle. She lifted herself up from Mara’s chest and wiped her eyes, black smudging all around her face and all over the back of her hands. “Shit,” she mumbled, noticing the smears.

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” Veronica said, reaching into her pocket and grabbing the only makeup wipe she had. It wouldn’t be enough, but it would be a start. She turned Heather’s face towards her and wiped away the most noticeable smears. “Feel any better?”

“No, I feel like shit,” Heather grumbled, eyes closed as Veronica wiped her face as much as she could. Veronica only let out a sigh.

“Well, at least we know why  _ Carrie _ got such a reaction out of you,” she said.

“Didn’t help that that dweeb grabbed my wrists before it started, either,” she grunted.

“What happens in  _ Carrie? _ ” Mara asked as she searched her pockets for tools to use for fixing Heather up. “I never watched it.”   


Veronica briefly explained the plot as she was handed another makeup wipe by Chandler, and she saw Mara’s face drop.

“...Ah.”

“Yeah,” Veronica sighed, getting the last of the smears off and most of the fucked up eyeliner. “Out of all the days Mrs Wilson had to choose to be ill, she had to choose today.”

“Out of  _ all _ the films, our sub had to choose  _ that _ ,” Chandler added with a hiss. “What a  _ great _ start to the day.” She glanced behind her to look in the incredibly dirty mirror to check her makeup so far. “Ugh. I can’t even put my eyeliner on before walking out of here.”   


“That’s where you’re wrong! I have some for smudged eyeliner cases,” Mara exclaimed. Veronica cringed.

“Ew.  _ Shared _ eyeliner?”

“Usually I’d agree with ‘Ronica, but…” She snatched the eyeliner from her and immediately got to work. Veronica shook her head with disappointment.

“You really need to put it on that much?”

“And what, show up to class suddenly wearing no eyeliner? Fuck no.” Chandler was now standing in front of the mirror and drawing on her little demon horns as quick as possible. “Can’t have anyone assuming I cried all my makeup off, now can we?”

“But that’s what happened.”

“Yeah, no one’s meant to know that though.”

Veronica watched Heather quickly redo her makeup, and as soon as she finished, she took hold of her hand.

“Do you feel any better, love?”

Heather stared at her for a moment, mouth open.

“I… I don’t feel great, no,” she began. “But I’m not opposed to you calling me that.”

“What, love?” Veronica teased, pulling her closer. The slightest smile curled on her lips, where Veronica planted a kiss. “And I didn’t expect you to feel better. Just know we’re both here if you need us, okay?”

Heather nodded. “I’ll… be fine. It’s not like I’ve never had sleep paralysis before.” She tightened her scrunchie. “It’s just been an unpleasant morning, as expected when I have to deal with all the shit thrown on me by everyone who has traumatised me.” She shrugged. “But what can you really do about that other than cry about it in a diseased bathroom, right?”

“Will you be okay for the rest of the day?” Mara asked, touching her arm gently.

“Of course I will,” she scoffed. “I can deal with this just fine, okay? Just like I always have.”

Mara looked a little doubtful, but nodded regardless.

Just before their departure to return to class, Mara gave the two of them a kiss farewell, along with a reminder to Veronica to tell her all about her date with Heather later. They all walked back up the stairs together, leaving Mara at her science room, and continued to walk up until they stood just outside the door of their English room. That’s when Heather paused.

“You okay?” Veronica asked. Heather bit her lip.

“Do you… happen to know what else happens in  _ Carrie? _ ” she asked, staring at the floor. Veronica went over the plot in her head, and while she highly doubted they had gotten very far into the film, what with a class period only lasting about half the runtime of Carrie, she couldn’t think of a moment in the film that might  _ not _ be triggering.

“Uh… I imagine we’d be around the prom scene?” She grimaced. “But class will be over soon anyway, so-”

She was interrupted by the sharp ringing of the bell.

“Never mind, class has ended now.” She shrugged. She heard Heather let out a sigh of relief, and once a good portion of the students had left the room, they dipped in to quickly grab their bags.

“Veronica, Heather,” the sub tried to ask them as they hurried in. “Can I ask where you went in such a hurry, and without a hall pass, no less?”

She saw Heather roll her eyes to herself, while Veronica made an attempt to answer,

“Heather wasn’t feeling well,” she said. “She’s uh… squeamish to blood.”

Heather gave her a disgruntled look, clearly she wasn’t a fan of that image for herself, but she didn’t protest.

“I see.” The sub seemed somewhat convinced, at least. “Well, next time, just tell me these things.”

“Sorry,” Veronica said, while she and Heather quickly tried to hurry back out the room.

“And girls,” she spoke again. They both silently groaned and looked back.

“ _ What, _ ” Heather muttered.

“If there’s anything you ever need to discuss with a staff member you can,” she said. Heather and Veronica exchanged an unenthusiastic look.

“We’ll keep that in mind,” Veronica muttered, not a lick of truth to her words. With that, they both darted out, sneaked a goodbye kiss to one another, then separated to go to their next lessons.

And when Veronica sat down in her next class, her mind couldn’t help but wander to Heather straight away, hoping that she was telling the truth before, and that she really was okay.

Guess she’ll have to find out later.

* * *

“So you have a game coming up?” Chandler hummed. “When is it?”

“Just in a couple of weeks! But don’t worry, we’ve all been practicing,” Mac said. “Hale, Diego and I have also been meeting up after school whenever we don’t have a practice game to work on our skills.”

“I’m sure you’ll be great out there,” she said.

“Will you come and watch the game?”

“Of course I will, you pillowcase.” She rolled her eyes. “Who do you take me for?”

“Just making sure! I know soccer isn’t your thing.”

“No, but I want to cheer you on, not that you’ll need it.” She glanced around the cafeteria. “Have you seen Veronica or Heather yet?”

“Not yet, but I hope they get here soon!” Mac did a little skip of excitement. “I want to hear everything.”

“I am also very curious.” She looked back down at her clipboard. “Oh well, let’s get lunchtime poll done before they get here so we have more time to hear what they have to say.”

“Alright!”

The two of them made their way over to the target table for the majority of their answers, and on arriving, she saw that the Country Club kids’ table was once again flooded with extra members, particularly around Courtney. Not as many as the last time she’d interrupted their conversation, but a fair handful that made her curious. However, whatever discussion they were currently having was brought to a halt with her presence becoming apparent, and with how Chandler was readily holding her clipboard, Courtney already knew what was coming.

Chandler went over the question with everyone - thankfully this week’s question wasn’t aimed in any way, just some question about the best methods to spread a good cause to the general public - and with how many people were at the table, she felt little need to gather answers from elsewhere. Good, she wasn’t in the mood to talk to many other faces. She may feel better from this morning, but she by no means felt  _ great _ .

“Is that everyone?” she asked, looking around the table. Everyone nodded, and so she turned around to make her leave.

“So like I was saying,” she heard Courtney speak as soon as she took the first step away. “People have been finding them  _ everywhere _ .”

“Really? How many were there?” she heard Ashley snicker.

“God knows, but either way, enough for everyone in that building to see it,” she laughed. “It’s started to spread to the other dorms too. Nowhere is safe.”

She really shouldn’t be nosy, she should probably just walk away and disregard whatever they were talking about. However, she couldn’t deny her interest was piqued, so holding out a hand in front of Mac, Chandler stopped to listen.

“Okay, but who took the time to make so many copies of…  _ that? _ ” someone said. “Talk about dedication.”

“Someone who really wanted to ruin David’s life, I guess.”

She spun around and darted back over to the table.

“ _ Hey, _ um, not to butt in yet again,” she cut in, “but is this some sort of update on that photo you showed me the other day?”

Courtney chuckled. “Oh, you could say that.”

Intrigued, she tucked her clipboard under her arm. “I’m listening.”

“Get this - someone got their hands on that photo at some point and  _ copied _ it. And by that, I mean they made  _ tonnes _ of copies.”

Mac came to stand by her side, her attention having been drawn in.

“Why did they do that?” she asked.

“Whoever did it stuck them  _ everywhere! _ ” Ashley said. “Like, all over the halls and in the kitchens!”

Chandler blinked at her. “As in… in his building?” She stepped closer. “Everyone in his building has seen it, is what you’re saying.”

“Everyone in and out,” Courtney said.

“He’s so  _ ruined _ ,” Ashley laughed. “Poor guy, I wonder what he did to deserve such bad karma.”

_ Yeah, I fucking wonder, _ she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from saying it. “Who did it?” she asked instead.

“That’s beyond me,” Courtney said with a sigh. “I asked the guy who I got the photo from if he did it, but he said he’d never! He suspects a couple of dudes on his floor though.” She shrugged. “I guess it’s a mystery, but if I were to ever meet them, I’d give them a pat on the back and thank them for  _ really _ making my day.” She laughed. “Honestly, it’s the funniest shit I’ve heard in ages. Call me a bitch, because I don’t know what David’s done to deserve it, but I’d be lying if I said watching his life fall apart because he shat himself wasn’t incredibly amusing.”

For once in her fucking life, Courtney had been able to lift her spirits higher than ever. Such a silly, immature thing shouldn’t have such an effect on her, but  _ God _ , something she had so desperately wished for, and thought would never come, had actually  _ happened _ .

_ I’m not the one with a ruined reputation, _ she thought giddly.  _ He is! He’s completely fucking ruined! _ She cackled to herself.  _ Holy shit, what are his options now? Drop out of college or keep living somewhere where you’re known as the shitlord? _ Oh, the possibilities were endless, and none of them were good options, at least not to him. For her, on the other hand, it was the best news she’d heard in a  _ long _ time.

“She just finds this very funny,” she suddenly heard Mac say as she patted her on the arm. Whoops, she hadn’t been paying attention to the conversation. “And so do I, actually.” Mac began to edge Heather away from the table, before,

“Hey, wait!” Ashley called. “I did think I recognised him from the photo… is he the guy who broke your nose?”

Mac paused, staring at her.

“...Yes. What about it?”

“Was it you? Are you behind it?”

Chandler glanced at Mac curiously, but she shook her head.

“No! I didn’t do it. Good theory though.” She continued to edge Chandler away. “Also, to clarify, he didn’t actually break my nose. I took out his teeth, and then his friend punched me in the face.”

“Oh, yeah, I remember. Sorry, I was pretty drunk that night.”

“Mhmm. But no, it wasn’t me.”   


“Dammit.” Ashley snapped her fingers. “I really wanna crack the mystery.”

“Well, have fun with that,” Mac said, before pulling Chandler away at last. “So… how are you feeling?” she looked up at her cautiously. Chandler felt her lips curl upwards, before she let out a laugh.

“I feel  _ great, _ ” she laughed, before grabbing Mac’s hand. “Come on, we gotta go tell Veronica and Heather, they’ll be  _ thrilled! _ ”

Mac let out a giggle as she was pulled out of the cafeteria. “Not as thrilled as you are!”

“Well, no, but they’ll still wanna hear it.” She couldn’t stop laughing. “Oh, if I could face going to that university again, I’d go  _ purely _ to watch his life fall apart. It would keep me entertained for days.”

“I’m sure you can imagine. Oh God, just the  _ thought _ of your whole university building knowing you shat yourself,” Mac shuddered, but it was all with amusement. “I’d say I almost feel bad for him, but I really don’t.” She then looked ahead. “Oh! There’s Veronica and Heather.”

Further down the corridor was indeed the two girls she was looking for. Duke seemed to be busy reading something in her hand, before handing it back to Veronica dejectedly. Veronica gave her a consoling stroke on her shoulder, and while usually Chandler would question what was wrong, she was far too joyful to pay attention.

“I have  _ really _ important news,” she announced as soon as she was in earshot of the two of them. They looked up curiously, Veronica looking particularly surprised.

“You’re looking better,” she commented. “What’s gotten you smiling so much?”

While Mac was busy giving Duke a welcoming hug, she leaned close to Veronica and gave her a quick summary.

“Isn’t that great?” she said zealously. “His life is destroyed, and I didn’t even need to do anything. Which… is for the best, I wasn’t really sure what to do about it.” She scratched the back of her neck. “Maybe God  _ doesn’t _ hate me after all.”

Veronica gave her a smile. “I’m glad you’re so happy about it, love.”

“ _ Happy? _ I’m over the goddamned moon.” She gazed at Veronica curiously. “Though, I was expecting a stronger reaction out of you. Last time you saw him, you were threatening to kill him.”

Veronica was indeed smiling, but it seemed she was only doing so by the sight of  _ her _ being happy than anything else.

“Oh, trust me, I’m very happy about it, but, uh…” She twiddled her thumbs, sneaking a swift glance to Duke.

“It was us,” Duke spoke up. Chandler paused.

“What?”

“Yeah, um… we did it,” Veronica said sheepishly. “We didn’t tell you because we were hoping… well…  _ this _ would happen.” She gestured to her current state. “We knew you’d prefer to hear about it from real life gossip."

Heather stared at the two of them, a little stunned.

“You… you went  _ back _ there? You did all of that?”

“Is… is that okay?” Veronica asked.

“ _ Okay? _ ” she echoed in disbelief. “‘Ronica, that’s…” She couldn’t find the right words, and so she leaped forward and hugged her tightly. “I fucking love you, you evil piece of shit.”

Veronica laughed warmly. “I love you too,” she whispered, returning the hug. “But I don’t think it’s me who you should be thanking.”

She parted from her and gave a curious look, while Veronica looked over to Duke.

“It was Heather’s idea, not mine,” she said with a smile. “I just helped execute it.”

Chandler gazed at Duke for a moment longer, her chest that was already overflowing with happiness and gratitude beginning somehow to flood even more, travelling up her throat and making the corners of her eyes wet.

“Honestly, it was nothing,” Duke dismissed. “It was the least I could do, right? I… just wanted to make sure he got what he deserved.”

“Oh please,” Veronica said, leaning on Chandler’s shoulder. “Heather, I feel like I should be  _ jealous _ you spent our first date to do a nice thing for Heather,” she teased Duke glared at her, a slight embarrassed blush appearing on her cheeks.

“What? No! You don’t need to be-”

“I know, I’m joking. I enjoyed doing it just as much as you.” A pause. “Hey, Heather? You okay there?”

Chandler was still trying to think of a good way to respond. Still, nothing came to her, apart from the one thing she wanted to do from the start. Lucky for her, there were few people in the corridors to see her step forward and embrace Heather, feeling herself get overwhelmed with emotion as she rested her chin on her shoulder.

“Thank you,” she murmured, ignoring the wet feeling around the rims of her eyes.

“It’s… no problem?” Duke said, awkwardly returning the hug. “Like I said, it’s the least I could do.”

“I couldn’t ask for anything more,” Chandler said, lifting her head to gaze at her gratefully. “What you did was the perfect amount of evil high school antics.”

“Eh, I feel like I could’ve done worse, but I’ll take it,” Duke said with a shrug. “Glad you’re so appreciative, but no need to cry on me.” She surprised her by dabbing her finger just under her eyes, where a drop of her tears shimmers on her knuckle. Heather cleared her throat, squeezing the last of her tears out and wiping them away.

“I’m not crying!” she protested. Meanwhile, Mac let out a coo.

“Aww, Heather’s super thankful!” She clung onto her arm and giggled sweetly, while Chandler just rolled her eyes.

“Can a girl not just be thankful?” she muttered. “I just… didn’t expect either of you to use  _ your _ date for  _ me _ .” She looked at them both. “I thought you’d go on a dinner date or something.”

“Ew, who do you take us for?” Veronica fake-gagged. “No, we wanted to do something mischievous. Personally, I think it fits.” She walked over to Duke and rested her arm on top of her head, which Duke seemed disgruntled about, but didn’t protest like she usually would.

“So I take it you’re both a thing?” Mac asked gleefully. Veronica happily nodded.

“I’m surprised I kept it in this long.”

“Okay, lovebirds, you can tell us all about it at the lunch table,” Chandler told them, walking around them and shoving them forward.

“Oh, you’re gonna  _ love _ hearing about it,” Duke laughed. “David nearly walked in on us making out.”   


Mac gasped. “Oh no… he didn’t see, did he?”

“No, he would have said something if he did,” Veronica reassured her. Even more intrigued, Chandler walked by Duke’s side, gazing at her with interest.

“Oh, so you actually saw him? How did that go down?”

“About as well as you would expect - he’s still pretty pissed at us,” she snickered. “But by then we’d already stuck the photos everywhere, so his threats were pretty worthless.”

Chandler laughed, listening to her recite the whole night in as much detail as she wanted to hear - that being, every fine little detail. She found herself completely zoning out from her two girlfriends and whatever conversation they were having - probably a similar one - and completely focusing on Duke and what she had to say. She laughed at her quips and her insults towards someone she truly hated, and every time, felt a pleasant, fluttery feeling in her chest. Like every time Duke made her laugh, it was a reminder of how much she cared.

She wasn’t entirely sure what was so enthralling about the very concept of Heather caring about her, to the extent that she would spend her first date with her most recent girlfriend dedicated to her, but it was, and that alone seemed to make her forget about all the shit that had been plaguing her mind all morning. That was all she needed.

Heather didn’t believe in karma. She didn’t believe in spirituality. She didn’t believe in God. Not in the ways she was taught to.

Because to some extent, she believed all three  _ could _ be real, but they simply cannot exist by themselves, they had to come from people themselves. Karma  _ could _ exist, and clearly it  _ did _ , but not by some supernatural force with a mind of its own. No… it came from the actions of one of her closest friends, as well as her girlfriend. A conscious action, but one that had acted just like karma would if it were real. Doesn’t that make it real? Just because it came from someone, doesn’t make it any less genuine. If anything… it meant so much more to her.

Someone who hurt her had gotten karma, and that karma didn’t exist from nothing. It existed out of something, and that something was…

_ I know what it was from Veronica, _ she thought, gazing at her girlfriend.  _ But what about you? _ Her eyes drifted to Duke longingly.

_ Did that come from love too? _

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> someone tell Chandler to stop sleeping on her back, this all could have been avoided.
> 
> hope you're enjoying this Chanduke btw bc there's a lot of it to come
> 
> https://heathersgameoftag.tumblr.com/


End file.
